Category: Women’s Health

The Story of Patient “J.K.”

In July of 1992, a patient identified only as “J.K.” went to Steven Chase Brigham’s New Jersey abortion facility. She requested treatment for the demise of her 22-23 week fetus. To avoid depersonalizing her, I’ll call her Jessie.

According to medical board documents, Brigham failed to perform even routine testing in this high-risk patient. Instead, he inserted laminaria, and sent Jessie to her home over an hour away, instructing her to return next day.

He inserted new laminaria the next day, rupturing Jessie’s membranes. He sent Jessie home again, with instruction to take oral antibiotics and go to his New York facility next day to complete procedure. The medical board faulted Brigham with failure to admit Jessie to a hospital due to the risk of infection or life-threatening disseminated intravascular coagulopathy. Not surprisingly, Jessie developed a fever and was admitted to a hospital via the emergency room.

Board documents also say Brigham claimed that if Jessie had been adequately dilated, he would have accompanied her to his NY office to complete the abortion. The board noted of Brigham, supposedly an expert in such cases, “He claimed to have performed the abortion as a ‘charity case’ and was ‘surprised’ … that a patient presenting with an intrauterine fetal demise at 23 weeks would have received appropriate care at any area hospital without regard to her ability to pay.” Nevertheless, Brigham “acknowledged that he charged J.K. a ‘small fee,’ ‘$200, $300, $400.'”

Brigham testified that he did not feel Jessie suffered “a significant complication” in that she was hospitalized only two days and did not require a transfusion.

Source: New Jersey medical board Interim Decision and Order

Credit: Christina Dunigan

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Abortion Patient “A.W

A woman identified in New Jersey medical board documents as “A.W.” (identified in New York documents as “Patient B”) was referred by Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania for an abortion by Brigham at his Flushing Women’s Center May 7-9, 1992. To avoid depersonalizing her, I’ll call her Anne.

The pregnancy was estimated at 24.5 weeks, past the legal limit for elective abortions in Pennsylvania. A D&E was initiated with the insertion of laminaria (dialators).

The following day, the abortion procedure was initiated under ultrasound. Brigham removed a fetal arm and part of the placenta, then detected a perforation. Although he was reaching for bony parts of the fetus and instead grasping soft tissues, he continued to grasp and pull with his instruments.This caused an 8-10 cm uterine laceration. Brigham perforated Anne’s sigmoid colon, and caused extensive cutting of the connective tissues of the colon.

Anne required a colostomy, and the removal of a 16 cm segment of her colon. Brigham admitted that he did not know what he was grasping with forceps, “the ultrasound picture was not consistent with what he felt,” but he “opened his forceps wider and grasped again, with force.”

Anne was transferred by ambulance to a hospital. She arrived in shock, and 3-4 units of packed cells were transfused.

In addition to the damage to her uterus and colon, Anne suffered damage to both ureters damaged. The medical board noted, “While perforation of the uterus is a known risk … and perhaps could be excused under some circumstances, the injuries caused by Respondent went far beyond perforation. … It is unacceptable for a practitioner to move his instrument in the body cavity without a clear understanding of their location. … The resultant injuries, particularly those to the bowel and ureters illustrate the point. These injuries were entirely unnecessary and caused by compounded acts outside accepted standards of medicine.” The board also noted that Brigham “portrays the very extensive injury to A.W. as a slip of the instrument.”

Sources: New Jersey medical board Interim Decision and Order; Administrative Review Board Decision and Order Number ARB No. 94-98 & No. 94-146; State Board for Professional Medical Conduct Statement of Charges; Newark Star-Ledger 1-7-94; Philadelphia Inquirer 12-15-94; Courier-Post 12-22-94; Atlantic City Press 12-15-94 Rockland Journal-News 12-10-94; New York Medical Board Statement of Charges (beginning at the bottom of page 7) and Findings (scroll to bottom of page 36)

Credit: Christina Dunigan

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Women and Abortion Regret

All women are unique, and there are many different reactions to abortion, but many women do suffer from grief and guilt.

Sometimes these feelings surface right away. At other times, regret and grief can be triggered many years later. Some common triggering events are a subsequent pregnancy, a friend or family members pregnancy or birth experience, an inability to have children when the woman wants them, a change in religious beliefs or ideology, or learning information about the unborn baby.

In an article defending abortion, feminist Joyce Arthur said the following:

“I… believe abortion is a positive moral good and a blessing for women. It’s an act that empowers them, literally saves their lives, saves their existing or future children’s lives, protects and improves their health and that of their families, gives women back their chosen lives, enables them to pursue their career and educational aspirations, improves their economic prospects, allows them to better themselves, gives them a level playing field in the public sphere with men, and enables them to truly attain and exercise liberty and other constitutional freedoms.” (1)

Is this an accurate portrayal of abortion? Do the women choosing it feel blessed, and does the experience enrich their lives? Is abortion good for women?
Many pro-choice groups seem to think so. Planned Parenthood discusses the possibility of women suffering after abortions on its website:

Q. My friend and I were arguing about abortion, and she said she heard that millions of women who have had abortions suffer from something called “post-abortion syndrome,” which she says is just like post-traumatic stress syndrome. Is that true?

A. No, it’s not true. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, anti-choice organizations continue to spread the false idea that it is common for abortion to have severe, emotionally negative effects…The anti-choice studies that claim to prove its existence are very flawed.” (2)

Planned Parenthood dismisses the studies that have shown abortion’s link to psychological problems (see articles under “Women’s Health” for more information on these studies.)

An overview of two:

In one five-year study, 25% of women who had abortion sought out psychiatric care later, as opposed to only 3% of women who did not have abortions.(3)

Another study determined that psychiatric disorders were 40% more common among aborting women than those who had not had an abortion.(4)

Do women regret their abortions? Many women who have come out in public saying that they do have become involved in pro-life groups or activities.

Faced with these studies, pro-choice groups conduct studies of their own which show that women feel mostly relief after abortions. Randy Alcorn, author of Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments (Mulnomah

Publishers: Oregon, 2000) cites two experts:

David Reardon, author of Aborted Women: Silent No More:

“A woman that a six-month post-abortion survey declares “well-adjusted” may experience severe trauma on the anniversary of the abortion date, or even many years later. This fact is attested to in psychiatric textbooks which affirm that…”the psychiatrist frequently hears expressions of remorse and guilt concerning abortions that occurred twenty or more years earlier.”

In one study, the number of women who expressed “serious self-reproach” increased fivefold over the period of time covered by the study.”(5)

Former Surgeon-General C. Everett Koop:

“A woman had a pregnancy at about 38 or 39. Her kids were teenagers. And without letting either her family or her husband know, she had an abortion. At that moment, she said, “[the abortion was] the best thing that ever happened to me- clean slate, no one knows, I am fine.” Ten years later, she had a psychiatric break when one of those teenage daughters who had grown up, got married, gotten pregnant, delivered a baby, and presented it to her grandmother…Unless you studied that one for ten years, you would say “perfectly fine result of an abortion.” (15)

In addition, James Rogers, who carefully examined over 400 published studies said that the studies showing few emotional effects after abortion were:

” [of] poor methodology research design” and “grossly substandard power characteristics.” He concluded that: “The question of psychological sequelae of abortion is not closed.”(16)

A Canadian study polled a group of women who had previously completed a questionnaire in which they denied having problems from their abortions.

One half of the group returned to be interviewed in depth:

“What emerged from psychotherapy was in sharp contrast [to the questionnaires], even when the women had rationally considered abortion to be inevitable, the only course of action…[They expressed feelings of] invariably of intense pain, involving bereavement and a sense of identification with the fetus.”(6)

One way to see how common distress after an abortion is is to take notice of the many, many support groups and ministries have sprung up to help women cope. Simply do a Google search of “Post Abortion Help” or “PASS” i.e. Post Abortion Stress Syndrome, as some have called it, and you will see hundreds of places offering help.

These groups would not exist, and would not be full of women, if there was no reason for them.
One more thing to consider- Perhaps the only person in this country who is an experienced abortionist AND ALSO a practicing psychiatrist has this to say:

“I’ve had patients who had abortions a year or two ago- women who did the best thing at the time for themselves- but it still bothers them. Many come in- some are just mute, some hostile, some burst out crying…There is no question in my mind that we are disturbing a life process. The trauma may sink into the unconscious and never surface in the woman’s lifetime….But a psychological price is paid. It may be alienation, it may be pushing away from human warmth, perhaps a hardening of the maternal instinct. Something happens on the deeper levels of a woman’s consciousness when she destroys a pregnancy. I know that as a psychiatrist.”(7)

Washington abortonist Julius Fogel, who has done over 20,000 abortions
In addition, a number of counselors have talked about the prevalence of abortion regrets among women who seek their services. For example, Meta Buchtman, director of Suicide Anonymous in Cincinnati, said that of roughly 4000 women who called over a certain period, nearly half previously had an abortion. Of the 1800 who had abortions, 1400 were between ages 15 and 24.(8)

According to online counselor Georgette Forney:

“Alot of younger girls… they’ve had an abortion on Saturday and they are looking for online help on Monday. They are starting to shut down emotionally and they can’t go to school. As a 16-year-old, you are not prepared to have yourself violated like that. The trauma totally freaks you out.”(9)

Further studies on abortion and mental health have found women who have had abortions have:

— 6-7 times higher suicide rate(10)
— Up to 60% have suicidal thoughts(11)
— 154% higher risk of suicide(12)
— Teen girls who had abortions are 10x more likely to commit suicide than those who haven’t(13)
— 65% higher risk of clinical depression. A longitudinal study of American women revealed that those who aborted were 65% more likely to be at risk of long-term clinical depression after controlling for age, race, education, marital status, history of divorce, income, and prior psychiatric state.(14)

Elsewhere in this section, you will read about women who have had abortions and how it has affected them.

For stories of women who regret their abortions go here.

For other studies on the emotional aftereffects of abortion, go here.

Notes

1. Joyce Arthur, Pro-Choice feminist, Open Letter to William Saletan. “Your’s is a “War” We Cannot Support” January 29, 2006. See http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/arthur-saletan.shtml

2. “Ask Dr Cullins” Planned Parenthood’s Website, updated 7/25/07 at http://ppmnj.com/health-topics/ask-dr-cullins/ask-dr-cullins-abortion-5519.htm

3. Cited in “Report on the Committee on the Operation of the Abortion Law” Ottawa, Canada, 1977, p 20-1

4. Ibid.

5. David Reardon Aborted Women: Silent No More Westchester, Ill.:Crossway Books, 1987) 116

6. “Exclusive Interview: C. Everett Koop,” 31

7. Quoted by Kathleen Kelly “PAS Professionals” and “Sorrow’s Reward” The Wanderer, April 13, 1989, p 2. 8.Valerie Meehan “Hidden Pain: Silent No More” The American Feminist, Winter 2002 to 2003

9. Ibid.

10. Gissler, Hemminki & Lonnqvist, “Suicides after pregnancy in Finland, 1987-94: register linkage study,” British Journal of Medicine 313:1431-4, 1996; and M. Gissler, “Injury deaths, suicides and homicides associated with pregnancy, Finland 1987-2000,” European J. Public Health 15(5):459 63,2005.

11. D. Reardon, Aborted Women, Silent No More (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002).

12. DC Reardon et. al., “Deaths Associated With Pregnancy Outcome: A Record Linkage Study of Low Income Women,” Southern Medical Journal 95(8):834-41, Aug. 2002.

13. B. Garfinkel, et al., “Stress, Depression and Suicide: A Study of Adolescents in Minnesota,” Responding to High Risk Youth (University of Minnesota: Minnesota Extension Service, 1986); M. Gissler, et. al., “Suicides After Pregnancy in Finland: 1987-94: register linkage study,” British Medical Journal, 313: 1431-1434, 1996; and N. Campbell, et. al., “Abortion in Adolescence,” Adolescence, 23:813-823, 1988. See the “Teen Abortion Risks” Fact Sheet at www.unfairchoice.info/resources.htm for more information.

14. JR Cougle, DC Reardon & PK Coleman, “Depression Associated With Abortion and Childbirth: A Long-Term Analysis of the NLSY Cohort,” Medical Science Monitor 9(4):CR105-112, 2003.

15. I.Kent et al. “Emotional Sequelae Of Elective Abortion” British college of Med. Journal., Volume 20, number 4, April 1978. I. Kent “Abortion Has Profound Impact” Family Practice News, June 1980 page 80

16.J. Rogers et al., “Validity of Existing Control Studies Examining the Psychological Sequelae of Abortion” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, volume 39, number 1, March 1987 PP. 20 to 29

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Texas Clinics Dump Medical Waste in Trash

There have been many incidents of clinics disposing of “medical waste” (Often including unborn babies) in the trash. By law, all remains of abortions must be sent to a pathologist.

This is done for the woman’s safety- the pathologist must ascertain that the abortion was complete- no parts of the baby or placenta were left behind. Any “tissue” left behind can cause infection which can endanger a woman’s fertility and even her life.

So instances of clinics dumping babies in the trash are more than just gruesome examples of abortion providers’ disregard for the dignity of the babies they kill- they are also examples of malpractice.

In a June of 2011, The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) determined that a clinic affiliated with the Whole Women’s Health chain was illegally dumping the remains of aborted babies and other medical waste in Austin.

According to the an article that can be found here Whole Women’s Health is being charged with “Failure to prevent the disposal of treated fetuses at a municipal solid waste landfill” and “Failure to ensure that the labels placed on each medical waste container show the weight of the container.”

See the official TCEQ report here.

Another Texas clinic in the same chain in McAllen, Texas, was found to have thrown out other abortion related garbage such as bloody cannulas (the tubes used tear apart unborn babies in the first trimester) bloody human tissue that included what may be the intestines of aborted babies, syringes, and documents with the full names of abortion patients on them.

See the TCEQ report on the McAllen incident here.

See pictures of the items found in McAllen (GRAPHIC)

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Physical Risks of Abortion

Pro-choice groups commonly maintain that abortion is a very safe medical procedure. While deaths from first-trimester abortions are relatively rare (though hardly non-existent) there are indeed serious complications that can be life-changing if not life-ending. Namely, an effect on future fertility. Please be made aware of the following statistics and studies:

Physical Risks: Life-Threatening Dangers of Abortion

Higher death risk, up to 7 times higher suicide
Compared to pregnant women who had their babies, pregnant women who aborted were …

** 3.5 times more likely to die in the following year
** 1.6 times more likely to die of natural causes
** 6-7 times more likely to die of suicide
** 14 times more likely to die from homicide
** 4 times more likely to die of injuries related to accidents(1)

Another study found that, compared to women who gave birth, women who had abortions had a 62% higher risk of death from all causes for at least eight years after their pregnancies. Deaths from suicides and accidents were most prominent, with deaths from suicides being 2.5 times higher.(2)

Causes of death within a week: The leading causes of abortion-related maternal deaths within a week of abortion are hemorrhage, infection, embolism, anesthesia complications, and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies.(3)

Cancer. Significantly increased risk of breast cancer, cervical cancer, and lung cancer (probably due to heavier smoking patterns after abortion).(4)

Immediate complications. About 10% suffer immediate complications; one-fifth are life-threatening: (5)

** hemorrhage
** infection
** ripped or perforated uterus
** cervical injury
** embolism
** anesthesia complications
** convulsions
** chronic abdominal pain
** cervical injury
** endotoxic shock
** Rh sensitization

31% suffer health complications. A recent study published in a major medical journal found that 31% of American women surveyed who had undergone abortions had health complications.(6)

80%-180% increase in doctor visits. Based on health care sought before and after abortion. On average, there is an 80% increase in doctor visits and a 180% increase in doctor visits for psychosocial reasons after abortion.(7)

Self-destructive lifestyles, spiraling health problems. Increased risk of promiscuity, smoking, drug abuse, and eating disorders, which all put the woman at increased risk for other health problems.(8)

Infertility and life-threatening reproductive risks

Abortion can damage reproductive organs and cause long-term and sometimes permanent problems that can put future pregnancies at risk. Women who have abortions are more likely to experience ectopic pregnancies, infertility, hysterectomies, stillbirths, miscarriages, and premature births than women who have not had abortions.(9)

Teens Face Higher Risk, 10 Times More Likely to Attempt Suicide

Teens 10 times more likely to attempt suicide. Teenage girls are 10 times more likely to attempt suicide if they have had an abortion in the last 6 months than are teens who have not had an abortion.(10)

Reproductive damage and other complications. Compared to teens who give birth, teens who abort are generally at higher risk of immediate complications and long-term reproductive damage after abortion than are older women.(11)
Higher risk of PID, 2.5 times higher risk of endometritis (a major cause of maternal death in future pregnancies)

Teens are at higher risk for dangerous infections such as pelvic inflammatory disease and endometritis after abortion.
These infections increase their risk of infertility, hysterectomy, ectopic pregnancy, and other serious complications.(12)

Overview of reproductive complications and problems with subsequent deliveries

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. Abortion puts women at risk of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is a serious, life threatening disease and a major direct cause of infertility. PID also increases risk of ectopic pregnancies. Studies have found that approximately one-fourth of women who have a chlamydia infection at the time of their abortion and 5% of women who don’t have chlamydia will develop PID within four weeks after the abortion.(13)

Placenta Previa. After abortion, there is a seven- to 15-fold increase in placenta previa in subsequent pregnancies (a life-threatening condition for both the mother and her wanted pregnancy). Abnormal development of the placenta due to uterine damage increases the risk of birth defects, stillbirth, and excessive bleeding during labor.(14)

Ectopic Pregnancy. Post-abortive women have a significantly increased risk of subsequent ectopic pregnancies, (15) which are life threatening and may result in reduced fertility.

Endometritis, a Major Cause of Death. Abortion can result in endometritis, which can lead to hospitalization and infertility problems. It is a major cause of maternal death during pregnancy.(16)

Women who abort twice as likely to have pre-term or post-term deliveries.(17)

** Women who had one, two, or more previous induced abortions are, respectively, 1.89, 2.66, or 2.03 times more likely to have a subsequent pre-term delivery, compared to women who carry to term. Pre-term delivery increases the risk of neonatal death and handicaps. The average hospital charge from delivery to discharge for a premature birth is $58,000, compared to $4,300 for a full-term birth.

** Women who had one, two, or more induced abortions are, respectively, 1.89, 2.61, and 2.23 times more likely to have a post-term delivery (over 42 weeks).

Death or disability of newborns in later pregnancies. Cervical and uterine damage may increase the risk of premature delivery, complications of labor, and abnormal development of the placenta in later pregnancies.(16) These complications are the leading causes of disabilities among newborns.

Having read this article and looked at the Citations, what does Planned Parenthood say about abortion’s safety? Check out the Truth Aborted Section.

Citations

1. M Gissler et. al., “Pregnancy Associated Deaths in Finland 1987-1994 — definition problems and benefits of record linkage” Acta Obsetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica 76:651-657, 1997; Mika Gissler, Elina Hemminki, Jouko Lonnqvist, “Suicides after pregnancy in Finland: 1987-94: register linkage study” British Medical Journal 313:1431-4, 1996; and M. Gissler, “Injury deaths, suicides and homicides associated with pregnancy, Finland 1987-2000,” European J. Public Health 15(5):459-63, 2005 .
2. DC Reardon et. al., “Deaths Associated With Pregnancy Outcome: A Record Linkage Study of Low Income Women,” Southern Medical Journal 95(8):834-41, Aug. 2002.
3. Kaunitz, “Causes of Maternal Mortality in the United States, Obstetrics and Gynecology 65(5), May 1985
4. H.L. Howe, et al., “Early Abortion and Breast Cancer Risk Among Women Under Age 40,” International Journal of Epidemiology 18(2):300-304, 1989; L.I. Remennick, “Induced Abortion as A Cancer Risk Factor: A Review of Epidemiological Evidence,” Journal of Epidemiological Community Health 1990; M.C. Pike, “Oral Contraceptive Use and Early Abortion as Risk Factors for Breast Cancer in Young Women,” British Journal of Cancer 43:72, 1981; M-G, Le, et al., “Oral Contraceptive Use and Breast or Cervical Cancer: Preliminary Results of a French Case-Control Study, Hormones and Sexual Factors in Human Cancer Etiology ed. JP Wolff, et al., (New York, Excerpta Medica,1984) 139-147; F. Parazzini, et al., “Reproductive Factors and the Risk of Invasive and Intraepithelial Cervical Neoplasia,” British Journal of Cancer 59:805-809,1989; H.L. Stewart, et al., “Epidemiology of Cancers of the Uterine Cervix and Corpus, Breast and Ovary in Israel and New York City,” Journal of the National Cancer Institute 37(1):1-96; I. Fujimoto, et al., “Epidemiologic Study of Carcinoma in Situ of the Cervix,” Journal of Reproductive Medicine 30(7):535, July 1985; N. Weiss, “Events of Reproductive Life and the Incidence of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer,” Am. J. of Epidemiology, 117(2):128-139, 1983; V. Beral, et al., “Does Pregnancy Protect Against Ovarian Cancer,” The Lancet 1083-7, May 20, 1978; C. LaVecchia, et al.,”Reproductive Factors and the Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Women,” International Journal of Cancer 52:351, 1992.
5. Frank, et.al., “Induced Abortion Operations and Their Early Sequelae,” Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 35(73):175-180, April 1985; Grimes and Cates, “Abortion: Methods and Complications”, in Human Reproduction, 2nd ed., 796-813; M.A. Freedman, “Comparison of complication rates in first trimester abortions performed by physician assistants and physicians,” Am. J. Public Health 76(5):550-554, 1986).
6. VM Rue et. al., “Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women” Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16, 2004.
7. P. Ney, et.al., “The Effects of Pregnancy Loss on Women’s Health,” Soc. Sci. Med. 48(9):1193-1200, 1994; Badgley, Caron, & Powell, Report of the Committee on the Abortion Law (Ottawa: Supply and Services, 1997) 319-321.
8. T. Burke with D. Reardon, Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002), see ch. 13 and 15.
9. Strahan, T. Detrimental Effects of Abortion: An Annotated Bibliography with Commentary (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002) 168-206.
10. B. Garfinkle, Stress, Depression and Suicide: A Study of Adolescents in Minnesota (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Extension Service, 1986).
11. Wadhera, “Legal Abortion Among Teens, 1974-1978”, Canadian Medical Association Journal 122:1386-1389,June 1980; 13. E. Belanger, et. al., “Pain of First Trimester Abortion: A Study of Psychosocial and Medical Predictors,” Pain, 36:339; G.M. Smith, et. al., “Pain of first-trimester abortion: Its quantification and relationships with other variables,” American Journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, 133:489, 1979; R.T. Burkman, et. al., “Morbidity Risk Among Young Adolescents Undergoing Elective Abortion,” Contraception, 30(2):99, 1984; and K.F. Schulz, et. al., and “Measures to Prevent Cervical Injury During Suction Curettage Abortion,” The Lancet, 1182-1184, May 28, 1993 .
12. Burkman, et al., “Morbidity Risk Among Young Adolescents Undergoing Elective Abortion” Contraception 30:99-105, 1984; R.T. Burkman, et. al., “Culture and treatment results in endometritis following elective abortion,” American J. Obstet. & Gynecol., 128:556, 1997; and D. Avonts and P. Piot, “Genital infections in women undergoing induced abortion,” European J. Obstet. & Gynecol. & Reproductive Biology, 20:53, 1985; W. Cates, Jr., “Teenagers and Sexual Risk-Taking: The Best of Times and the Worst of Times,” Journal of Adolescent Health, 12:84, 1991; and “Teenage Pregnancy: Overall Trends and State-by-State Information,” Report by the Alan Guttmmacher Institute, Washington, DC, www.agi.org.
13. Radberg, et al., “Chlamydia Trachomatis in Relation to Infections Following First Trimester Abortions,” Acta Obstricia Gynoecological (Supp.93), 54:478, 1980; L. Westergaard, “Significance of Cervical Chlamydia Trachomatis Infection in Post-abortal Pelvic Inflammatory Disease,” Obstetrics and Gynecology 60(3):322-325, 1982; M. Chacko, et al., “Chlamydia Trachomatosis Infection in Sexually Active Adolescents: Prevalence and Risk Factors,” Pediatrics 73(6), 1984; M. Barbacci, et al., “Post-Abortal Endometritis and Isolation of Chlamydia Trachomatis,” Obstetrics and Gynecology 68(5):668-690, 1986; S. Duthrie, et al., “Morbidity After Termination of Pregnancy in First-Trimester,” Genitourinary Medicine 63(3):182-187, 1987.
14. Barrett, et al., “Induced Abortion: A Risk Factor for Placenta Previa”, American Journal of Ob&Gyn. 141:7, 1981.
15. Daling,et.al., “Ectopic Pregnancy in Relation to Previous Induced Abortion”, J. American Medical Association 253(7):1005-1008, Feb. 15, 1985; Levin, et.al., “Ectopic Pregnancy and Prior Induced Abortion”, American J. Public Health 72:253, 1982; C.S. Chung, “Induced Abortion and Ectopic Pregnancy in Subsequent Pregnancies,” American J. Epidemiology 115(6):879-887 (1982).
16. “Post-Abortal Endometritis and Isolation of Chlamydia Trachomatis,” Obstetrics and Gynecology 68(5):668- 690, 1986); P. Sykes, “Complications of termination of pregnancy: a retrospective study of admissions to Christchurch Women’s Hospital, 1989 and 1990,” New Zealand Medical Journal 106: 83-85, March 10, 1993; S Osser and K Persson, “Postabortal pelvic infection associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection and the influence of humoral immunity,” Am J Obstet Gynecol 150:699, 1984; B. Hamark and L Forssman, “Postabortal Endometritis in Chlamydia-Negative Women- Association with Preoperative Clinical Signs of Infection,” Gynecol Obstet Invest 31:102-105, 1991; and Strahan, Detrimental Effects of Abortion: An Annotated Bibliography With Commentary (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002) 169.
17. Zhou, Weijin, et. al., “Induced Abortion and Subsequent Pregnancy Duration,” Obstetrics & Gynecology 94(6):948-953, Dec. 1999.
18. Hogue, Cates and Tietze, “Impact of Vacuum Aspiration Abortion on Future Childbearing: A Review”, Family Planning Perspectives 15(3), May-June 1983.

 

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Psychological Risks: Traumatic Aftereffects of Abortion

Suicide

— 6-7 times higher suicide rate. Two national from Finland based on medical records revealed that aborting women were six-seven times more likely to commit suicide in the following year than were delivering women.(1)

— Up to 60% have suicidal thoughts. According to a recent study in a major scientific journal, 31% had thoughts of suicide after abortion. In another survey, approximately 60% of women with post-abortion problems reported suicidal thoughts, with 28% attempting suicide and half of those attempting suicide two or more times.(2)

— 154% higher risk of suicide. Another study of more than 173,000 American women who had abortions or carried to term found that, during the eight years after the pregnancy ended, women who aborted had a 154% higher risk of suicide than women who carried to term.(3)

— Higher suicide risks for teens. Teen girls are 10 times more likely to attempt suicide if they have had an abortion in the last six months than girls who have not had an abortion, and 2-4 times more likely to commit suicide after abortion compared to adult women.(4)

Depression

— 65% higher risk of clinical depression. A longitudinal study of American women revealed that those who aborted were 65% more likely to be at risk of long-term clinical depression after controlling for age, race, education, marital status, history of divorce, income, and prior psychiatric state.(5)

— Depression risk remained high, even when pregnancies were unplanned. Among a national sample of women with unintended first pregnancies, aborting women were at significantly higher risk of long-term clinical depression compared to delivering women.(6)

Trauma

— 65% report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. In a study of U.S. and Russian women who had abortions, 65% of U.S. women experienced multiple symptoms of PTSD, which they attributed to their abortions. Slightly over 14% reported all the symptoms necessary for a clinical diagnosis of abortion-induced PTSD, and 25% said they did not receive adequate counseling. 64% said they felt pressured by others to abort.(7)

— In the above study, 60% of American women reported that they felt “part of me died” after their abortions.(7)

— Twice as likely to be hospitalized. Compared to women who deliver, women who abort are more than twice as likely to be subsequently hospitalized for psychiatric illness within six months.(8)

— More outpatient psychiatric care. Analysis of California Medicaid records shows that women who have abortions subsequently require significantly more treatments for psychiatric illness through outpatient care. (9)

— Multiple disorders and regrets. A study of post-abortion patients only 8 weeks after their abortions found that 44% reported nervous disorders, 36% experienced sleep disturbances, 31% had regrets about their decision, and 11% had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor.(10)

— Generalized anxiety disorder. Among women with no previous history of anxiety, women who aborted a first, unplanned pregnancy were 30% more likely to subsequently report all the symptoms associated with a diagnosis for generalized anxiety disorder, compared to women who carried to term.(11)

— Sleep disorders. In a study of women with no known history of sleep disorders, women were more likely to be treated for sleep disorders after having an abortion compared to giving birth (nearly twice as likely in the first 180 days afterwards). Numerous studies have shown that trauma victims often experience sleep difficulties.(12)

— Disorders not pre-existing. In a New Zealand study, women had higher rates of suicidal behavior, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and other disorders after abortion. The study found that these were not pre-existing problems.(13)

Eating disorders & substance abuse

— 39% had eating disorders. In a survey of women with post-abortion problems, 39% reported subsequent eating disorders.(14)

— Five-fold higher risk of drug and alcohol abuse. Excluding women with a prior history of substance abuse, those who abort their first pregnancy are 5 times more likely to report subsequent drug and alcohol abuse vs. those who give birth.(15)

— Substance abuse during subsequent pregnancies. Among women giving birth for the first time, women with a history of abortion are five times more likely to use drugs, twice as likely to use alcohol, and ten times more likely to use marijuana during their pregnancy, compared to women who have not had an abortion.(16)

— Alcohol abuse linked to other problems. Alcohol abuse after abortion has been linked to violent behavior, divorce or separation, auto accidents, and job loss.(17)

Coercion, guilt, repressed grief

 

— Coerced to violate their beliefs, values and conscience. The “decision” to abort is often based on the demands or threats of others – even when it violates the woman’s own moral beliefs and desire to keep the baby.(18) This is a known risk factor for psychological complications after abortion.(19)

— 64% of abortions involve coercion. A recent study of women who had abortions found that 64% of American women reported that they felt pressured by others to abort.(7)

— Common negative reactions. In a survey of women reporting post-abortion problems, 80% experienced guilt, 83% regret, 79% loss, 62% anger and 70% depression.(2)

— Forbidden grief. After abortion, societal expectation, personal shame and public and professional denial result in repressed grief, causing serious problems including clinical depression, eating disorders, self-destructive lifestyles and suicide.(20)

Divorce and chronic relationship problems

— Women with a history of abortion are significantly more likely to subsequently have shorter relationships and more divorces. This may be due to lowered self-esteem, greater distrust of males, sexual dysfunction, substance abuse, and increased levels of depression, anxiety, and volatile anger.(21)

— More poverty and single parenthood after repeat abortions. Women who have more than one abortion (nearly half of those seeking abortions each year)(22) are more likely to become single parents and to require public assistance.(23)

— 30-50% of post-abortive women report experiencing sexual dysfunctions such as promiscuity, loss of pleasure from intercourse, increased pain, and aversion to sex and/or men.(23)

Not counseled before or after the abortion, many wanted alternatives

In a study of American and Russian women who experienced abortion:

— 67% of American women reported that they received no counseling beforehand

— 84% reported they received inadequate counseling beforehand

— 79% were not counseled about alternatives

— 54% were not sure about their decision at the time.(7)

Unresolved trauma and child abuse

— 144 % more likely to abuse their children. One study found that women with a history of induced abortion were 144% more likely to physically abuse their children than women who had not had an abortion.(24)

— Child abuse linked to unresolved trauma. Abortion is linked with increased violent behavior, alcohol and drug abuse, replacement pregnancies, depression, and poor maternal bonding with later children. These factors are closely associated with child abuse and would appear to confirm a link between unresolved post-abortion trauma and subsequent child abuse.(25)

Repeat abortions, self-punishment and risk factors

— 48% of aborting women have had a previous abortion.(22) Women who have had an abortion are 4 times more likely to abort a current pregnancy than those with no prior abortion history.(21) This may reflect aspects of self-punishment.(26)

— Studies have identified factors that put women at risk for negative reactions to abortion, including feeling pressured into unwanted abortions, lack of support, being more religious, prior emotional or psychological problems, adolescence, being unsure of her decision, and receiving little or no counseling prior to abortion. An analysis of 63 medical studies that identify risk factors concluded that the number of women suffering from negative emotional reactions could be dramatically reduced if abortion clinics screened women for these risk factors.(19)

To learn more, see Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion. To order, call: Acorn Books: 1-888-412-2676.

BTW: What is Planned Parenthood’s response to all this? A Planned Parenthood affiliate in Illinois posted the following advice on their website:

“You can say or yell “stop” whenever you have disturbing thoughts… if you find yourself fantasizing too often about what the child may have been like, you should substitute another fantasy: a baby crying because you have no time to give it.”(28)

Citations

1. Gissler, Hemminki & Lonnqvist, “Suicides after pregnancy in Finland, 1987-94: register linkage study,” British Journal of Medicine 313:1431-4, 1996; and M. Gissler, “Injury deaths, suicides and homicides associated with pregnancy, Finland 1987-2000,” European J. Public Health 15(5):459 63,2005.
2. D. Reardon, Aborted Women, Silent No More (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002).
3. DC Reardon et. al., “Deaths Associated With Pregnancy Outcome: A Record Linkage Study of Low Income Women,” Southern Medical Journal 95(8):834-41, Aug. 2002.
4. B. Garfinkel, et al., “Stress, Depression and Suicide: A Study of Adolescents in Minnesota,” Responding to High Risk Youth (University of Minnesota: Minnesota Extension Service, 1986); M. Gissler, et. al., “Suicides After Pregnancy in Finland: 1987-94: register linkage study,” British Medical Journal, 313: 1431-1434, 1996; and N. Campbell, et. al., “Abortion in Adolescence,” Adolescence, 23:813-823, 1988. See the “Teen Abortion Risks” Fact Sheet at www.unfairchoice.info/resources.htm for more information.
5. JR Cougle, DC Reardon & PK Coleman, “Depression Associated With Abortion and Childbirth: A Long-Term Analysis of the NLSY Cohort,” Medical Science Monitor 9(4):CR105-112, 2003.
6. DC Reardon, JR Cougle, “Depression and unintended pregnancy in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth: a cohort study,” British Medical Journal 324:151-2, 2002.
7. VM Rue et. al., “Induced abortion and traumatic stress: A preliminary comparison of American and Russian women,” Medical Science Monitor 10(10): SR5-16, 2004.
8. DC Reardon et. al., “Psychiatric admissions of low-income women following abortions and childbirth,” Canadian Medical Association Journal 168(10): May 13, 2003. 9. PK Coleman et. al., “State-Funded Abortions Versus Deliveries: A Comparison of Outpatient Mental Health Claims Over Four Years,” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 72(1):141-152, 2002.
10. Ashton,”The Psychosocial Outcome of Induced Abortion”, British Journal of Ob & Gyn. 87:1115-1122, 1980. 11. JR Cougle, DC Reardon, PK Coleman, “Generalized Anxiety Following Unintended Pregnancies Resolved Through Childbirth and Abortion: A Cohort Study of the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth,” Journal of Anxiety Disorders 19:137-142 (2005).
12. DC Reardon and PK Coleman, “Relative Treatment Rates for Sleep Disorders and Sleep Disturbances Following Abortion and Childbirth: A Prospective Record Based-Study,” Sleep 29(1):105-106, 2006.

13. DM Fergusson et. al., “Abortion in young women and subsequent mental health,” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47(1): 16-24, 2006.
14. T. Burke with D. Reardon, Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002) 189, 293
15. DC Reardon, PG Ney, “Abortion and Subsequent Substance Abuse,” American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 26(1):61-75, 2000.
16. PK Coleman et. al., “A history of induced abortion in relation to substance abuse during subsequent pregnancies carried to term,” American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1673-8, Dec. 2002.
17. Benedict, et al., “Maternal Perinatal Risk Factors and Child Abuse,” Child Abuse and Neglect 9:217-224, 1985; P.G. Ney, “Relationship between Abortion and Child Abuse,” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 24:610-620, 1979; Shepard, et al., “Contraceptive Practice and Repeat Induced Abortion: An Epidemiological Investigation,” J. Biosocial Science 11:289-302, 1979; M. Bracken, “First and Repeated Abortions: A Study of Decision- Making and Delay,” J. Biosocial Science 7:473-491, 1975; S. Henshaw, “The Characteristics and Prior Contraceptive Use of U.S. Abortion Patients,” Family Planning Perspectives, 20(4):158-168, 1988; D. Sherman, et al., “The Abortion Experience in Private Practice,” Women and Loss: Psychobiological Perspectives, ed. W.F. Finn, et al., (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1985) 98-107; E.M. Belsey, et al., “Predictive Factors in Emotional Response to Abortion: King’s Termination Study – IV,” Social Science and Medicine 11:71-82, 1977; E. Freeman, et al., “Emotional Distress Patterns Among Women Having First or Repeat Abortions,” Obstetrics and Gynecology 55(5):630-636, 1980; C. Berger, et al., “Repeat Abortion: Is it a Problem?” Family Planning Perspectives 16(2):70-75 (1984).
18. George Skelton, “Many in Survey Who Had Abortion Cite Guilt Feelings,” Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1989, p. 28 (question 76). See also Mary K. Zimmerman, Passage Through Abortion (New York, Prager Publishers, 1977).
19. David C. Reardon, “The Duty to Screen: Clinical, Legal, and Ethical Implications of Predictive Risk Factors of Post-Abortion Maladjustment,” The Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 20(2):33-114, Spring 2004.
20. For more on this topic, see T. Burke, Forbidden Grief: The Unspoken Pain of Abortion (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002).
21. Shepard, et al., “Contraceptive Practice and Repeat Induced Abortion: An Epidemiological Investigation,” J. Biosocial Science 11:289-302, 1979; M. Bracken, “First and Repeated Abortions: A Study of Decision-Making and Delay,” J. Biosocial Science 7:473-491, 1975; S. Henshaw, “The Characteristics and Prior Contraceptive Use of U.S. Abortion Patients,” Family Planning Perspectives, 20(4):158-168, 1988; D. Sherman, et al., “The Abortion Experience in Private Practice,” Women and Loss: Psychobiological Perspectives, ed. W.F. Finn, et al., (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1985) 98-107; E.M. Belsey, et al., “Predictive Factors in Emotional Response to Abortion: King’s Termination Study – IV,” Social Science and Medicine 11:71-82, 1977; E. Freeman, et al., “Emotional Distress Patterns Among Women Having First or Repeat Abortions,” Obstetrics and Gynecology 55(5):630-636, 1980; C. Berger, et al., “Repeat Abortion: Is it a Problem?” Family Planning Perspectives 16(2):70-75 (1984).
22. “Facts in Brief: Induced Abortion,” The Alan Guttmacher Institute (www.agi-usa.org), 2002.
23. Speckhard, Psycho-social Stress Following Abortion, (Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1987); and Belsey, et al., “Predictive Factors in Emotional Response to Abortion: King’s Termination Study – IV,” Social Science & Med.icine 11:71-82, 1977.
24. Priscilla K. Coleman, et. al., “Associations between voluntary and involuntary forms of perintal loss and child maltreatment among low-income mothers,” Acta Paediatrica 94, 2005.
25. Benedict, et al., “Maternal Perinatal Risk Factors and Child Abuse,” Child Abuse and Neglect 9:217-224, 1985; P.G. Ney, “Relationship between Abortion and Child Abuse,” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 24:610-620, 1979. See also Reardon, Aborted Women, Silent No More (Springfield, IL: Acorn Books, 2002) 129-30, which describes a case of woman who beat her three year old son to death shortly after an abortion which triggered a “psychotic episode” of grief, guilt, and misplaced anger.
26. Leach, “The Repeat Abortion Patient,” Family Planning Perspectives 9(1):37-39, 1977; S. Fischer, “Reflection on Repeated Abortions: The meanings and motivations,” Journal of Social Work Practice 2(2):70-87, 1986; B. Howe, et al., “Repeat Abortion, Blaming the Victims,” Am. J. of Public Health 69(12):1242-1246, 1979.21. David C. Reardon, “The Duty to Screen: Clinical, Legal, and Ethical Implications of Predictive Risk Factors of Post-Abortion Maladjustment,” The Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 20(2):33-114, Spring 2004.
28.Quoted in Valerie Meehan “Hidden Pain: Silent No More” The American Feminist, Winter 2002 to 2003

 

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Abortion Clinic Health Regulations And Pro-Choice Opposition

Pro-Choice individuals and organizations claim to be concerned first and foremost with the medical needs of women. Therefore, it is hard to understand why such organizations oppose regulations that would make abortion safer.

In many states, legislation has been introduced that would force clinics to adhere to certain standards. For example, operating room doors would have to be wide enough to admit a stretcher or wheelchair so an injured woman could be easily transported. The clinic would need to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Basic standards of cleanliness would need to be upheld.

Currently, only 23 states have health and safety regulations for abortion clinics. In eight states, laws are on the books but are being blocked by court action from Planned Parenthood and other pro-choice organizations.

PP continually rallies pro-choicers to oppose clinic regulations. For example, an action alert from the organization discussing such legislation (http://www.ppaction.org/campaign/defundPP_clone) says that “an amendment would direct the Board of Health to impose medically unnecessary regulations on clinics…”

According to “Regulating Abortion Clinics” in the Washington Times (Feb 6, 2008), despite the lack of laws requiring abortion clinics to be inspected or licensed, “occasionally, an intrepid government official, acting on a tip by patient or employee, breaks through the stone wall of secrecy and discovers abuses.”

For example, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas is facing 107 criminal counts after officials were able to review only 29 patient records.

In an attempt by Planned Parenthood to manipulate pro-choice individuals into fighting a proposed set of legislation in Virginia (SB 1270) Planned Parenthood released a factsheet saying:

“The real impact of this bill would be to dramatically decrease access to safe abortion services in Virginia.” It called the restrictions “unnecessary and unreasonable” and said they would “make abortions prohibitory expensive” for women.

Here is what the bill actually states:

“….all abortion clinics, defined as any facility other than a hospital or an ambulatory surgery center in which 25 or more first trimester abortions are performed in any 12-month period, [are] to be licensed and to comply with the requirements currently in place for ambulatory surgery centers except the requirement for a certificate of public need. The Board of Health may also waive certain structural requirements.”

So this law would not impose a single regulation on clinics that was not already in place for all other forms of surgery. In fact, it would impose less- structural mandates and a requirement for a certificate would be omitted.

Planned Parenthood, however, fought to prevent their clinics from being made to adhere any standards at all.

The bill was defeated- Planned Parenthood won, and now there are no health guidelines for abortion clinics in Virginia.

PP continues to oppose any and all regulations on abortion’s safety.

Here are some examples as to why such regulations are needed.

******

“There has been testimony in the House and Senate, where I have heard there is not regulation on the abortion clinics in the state. In the nine clinics, we’ve heard testimony that abortion clinics are not as regulated as veterinary clinics or tattoo parlors. We need to find a balance between good regulations and women’s health. I think it’s important to make sure the nine (abortion) facilities are capable of handling emergencies; to not regulate would be a disservice to protecting women’s health.”

Indiana, Sen. Jeff Drozda, R-Westfield IDS News, Multiple bills address abortion in Indiana Senate, House, 2/22/2005

******

Abortionist Don Sloan is quoted here from his book Choice: A Doctor’s Experience with the Abortion Dilemma. New York: International Publishers 2002 (with Paula Hartz):

“The polarization of the two sides in the abortion battle has everyone over a barrel. The pro-choice people find themselves fighting good, healthy, correct state regulations because many of those regulations are emanating from anti-abortion pressure groups as a political ploy.”

******

Reporter Hannah Selinger describes her trip to an abortion clinic this way:

“In all the years I have spent writing and thinking about a woman’s right to choose, I have never set foot in an abortion clinic, because I have never needed to. In my mind, I had always pictured a clean and comfortable place. This was no Westchester clinic. The place was dirty and dark and the women in the room outside were standing, as there were no chairs. A woman beside me was crying. . In the press, the issue of the right to choose will be reduced to the terminology of precedent and privacy. But the visceral reality of abortion–the grimy clinic, the sobbing and hapless young woman — cannot be understood by such desensitized vocabulary.”

“The Raw Story: The Real State of Abortion Rights before Alito” January 12, 2006

******

Police officer William Howard Jr. said this of the Dr. Krishna Rajanna’s Kansas abortion clinic:

“Trash was everywhere and roaches crawling across the countertops, with a smell of stench in the room. My partner observed the procedure room was filthy, he told me he saw dried blood on the floor and the room looked nasty to him. In a statement to me, one witness related how Rajanna was a filthy man who did not properly sterilize his equipment.” In a notarized affidavit, the detective said

“There was an unfamiliar type stench in the room. Frankly, I was reluctant to sit down… Bear in mind, I am an experienced police officer who has worked in every aspect in law enforcement and had spent my last five years in the homicide unit where I worked countless community deaths. I thought I had heard and seen every vile, disgusting crime scene but was in for a new shock when I started this investigation.”

Detective William Howard Jr. Kansas City. Kansas Police Department Eyewitness Testimony of Officer, House Committee on Health and Humices , March 15,2005

*****

The Department of Health noted, “After one of the procedures the nurse was observed preparing the room for the next patient. With gloved hands the nurse removed the visibly soiled paper cover from the procedure table. With the same gloves, the nurse pulled fresh paper to cover the table and prepare it for the next patient. A packet of sterile instruments was then opened and set up for the physician. The gloves had not been changed. Following the procedure, the dirty instruments were taken to the cleaning room. Interview with staff revealed that she did not know how much disinfecting solution to use when doing cleaning. In addition one of the two sinks was being used to discard dirty solutions. After scrubbing the instruments, the staff person placed them into this dirty sink and gave them only a water rinse before wrapping them for the sterilization process. Residue may have been left from the matter that had been dumped into this sink. This residue could adhere to the cleaned instruments.”

Ohio DOH registry # 992272 10-25-99

******

During a 1989 inspection of Blue Coral Medical Center, health inspectors found:

–The clinic employees unlicensed non-nursing staff to monitor patients in the recovery room.

–Single use disposable equipment such as the suction tube used to remove the contents of the uterus during the abortion and plastic syringes used to give medication into the vein or into the muscle are reused.

–Biohazards waste material is not disposed of properly.

–Abortion suction machines were dirty, stained and the tubing contained residual matter from previously completed abortions.

–The facility failed to properly dispose of blood-covered needles and sharp instruments, which had been used to give medications.

–Dirty, used patient gowns were improperly discarded.

–A plastic shopping bag of these soiled used patient gowns was hanging from an oxygen tank.

–There was no soap found anywhere in the facility to allow staff and clients to wash their hands to prevent the spread of infection and cross contamination.

–Stirrups of procedure tables were padded with underpads and tape that was stained with what appeared to be blood.

–The clinic does not ensure patient confidentiality.

Findings of HRS September 25-26, 1989 Site Visit

******

At the Ladies First Abortion Clinic, Findings of HRS October 3, 1989:

—The entire physical plant from the entrance, examining rooms, surgical suite, recovery room, bathrooms, lab room, offices, sterilizer room and storage rooms is filthy.

— Old dirty mops were found leaning against walls in the bathroom and sterilizer room.

— A large, dead cockroach was found on the counter in the sterilizing room.

— Men’s old socks were found on shelves in the recovery room.

— After the procedures, patients lie on one of seven old, torn, ripped, and flat examining tables that are lined up next to each other in a back room of the clinic.

—The gloves they reported as sterile were open and not sterile.

—Gauze pads that were stained yellow were found recently sterilized and packaged for use.

—There was no hot water available in the clinic including the surgical suite, recovery room, or the bathrooms.

—None of the three bathrooms nor the sink in the recovery room had any soap.

******

At Miami International Esthetic Center, Inc:

—The clinic failed to ensure adequate restroom facilities for the patients and staff due to the fact that the clinic had no toilets. Staff and patients were using a portable commode.

—The facility failed to provide basic necessities for infection control such as no hot water.

—Single use disposable items were reused. These items include disposable urinary foley catheters. Reuse of such products is considered unacceptable practice. In addition, putting an unsterile tube into a patient’s urinary bladder may result in serious infection and harm to the patients. Single use plastic suction catheter used in the abortion procedure was reused.

Findings of HRS On Site Visit October 10, 1989

******

From 20/20 “A Woman’s Right, A Woman’s Risk” March 8, 1999:

“There were jagged edges on some of the instruments that were supposed to be smooth, which literally tore the uterus of this young woman.” said Attorney General John Cornyn says, in the wake of the death of a 15-year-old Jamie Garcia, who died from massive infection, investigators found one nightmare condition after another at the clinic in Houston.

******

At Women’s Service Center (Findings of HRS Sept 22-23 1989 visit):

—Sterile techniques were routinely compromised.

—Clinic staff indicated that equipment, clearly labeled with instructions to dispose of after a single use, were reused.

—Paper used to wrap equipment for sterilization is reused until it is so dirty with blood or ripped that it must be discarded.

—Clinic staff could not report when the Vacuum Suction machine had been last cleaned.

—The clinic had no policies or procedure for protecting patient confidentiality.

—Infection control procedures are so inadequate that patient safety is threatened.

—The clinic does not conduct tests to definitely determine that a patient is pregnant prior to performing an abortion.

******

“There was actually an abortion suction device in this place that had green mold growing in it, When we got there, there wasn’t any soap in the place, so our inspectors had to go next door to wash their hands. No matter how hard they searched, clinic personnel couldn’t find a single sanitary surgical glove in the entire clinic. Patients recovering from general anesthetic were attended by untrained, unlicensed personnel. And an oxygen mask still had lipstick on it from a patient who had needed it some time before. In addition, the expiration date had passed on nearly 70 different kinds of medication being used in the facility. These are deplorable conditions. The clinic appears to be little more than a satellite operation of the back alley abortion mill we closed early this week. We are powerless to ensure that women will receive safe, adequate health care in abortion clinics.”

Secretary Gregory L. Coler, Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services

PR Newswire, Florida HRS secretary closes second Miami abortion clinic, 9/27/1989

******

“When I first assumed the position of director of this office, Office of Licensure and Certification, HRS, Tallahassee, Florida, I visited representative facilities of the different types we license. I reviewed the statutes and regulations of each different type of facility. The one facility type where I learned we had extremely limited authority to ensure quality care was abortion clinics. The situation still exists today. I have personally surveyed three abortion clinics over the last two weeks and am profoundly concerned about the practices and care I observed.”

Connie E. Cheren, Director, Office of Licensure and Certification, HRS

St. Petersburg Times, Editorial, Abortion clinics should meet basic health care standards, 10/12/1989

******

“In addition, the place was filthy — blood stained pads and sheets, filthy surgical equipment, a general lack of infection control. These places cannot be permitted to operate in this way. . . We’ve been into 15 percent of the abortion clinics in this state, and they are unsafe; they are unclean, and they’re not places where women should be going to receive abortions.”

Connie E. Cheren, Director, Office of Licensure and Certification, HRS

St Petersburg Times, Scrutiny of abortion clinic standards will continue, 10/13/1989

PR Newswire, Florida HRS secretary closes second Miami abortion clinic, 9/27/1989

******

“It is hard to believe that a place like this can exist in the age of modern medicine, There wasn’t even any hot water. Anybody knows that the very first requirement for sanitary conditions is hot soapy water. On top of that, there were no restroom for patients or staff. There was a serious lack of sanitation throughout the clinic.”

Greg Coler, Florida health inspector

PR Newswire Association, Florida Department of HRS closes fourth abortion clinic, 10/13/1989

******

“There were dead cockroaches in the (abortion) sterilizing room, and men’s old, dirty socks on a shelf in the recovery room. There was no hot water and the hot water taps had been broken for some time. There was no soap at the clinic’s three sinks and there wasn’t a single sterile surgical glove in the place. A filthy mop that a veteran public health doctor said stunk of dried blood was stored with medical supplies. The air vents were covered with filth. Cobwebs draped down from the ceiling sprinkler system. And debris was scattered from one end of the place to the other. What’s incredible about that is we were sitting in the parking lot Monday waiting for the owner to show up so we could do an inspection, when a cleaning lady came out of the clinic and told us she’d been cleaning up in there all day. It makes me wonder what the place looked like before it was cleaned up.”

Greg Coler, Florida health inspector

PR Newswire, Florida HRS closes Broward County abortion clinic, 10/5/1989

******

The following incidents were cited in Denise Burke’s article “Abortion Clinic Regulations: Combating the True “Back Alley” (Burke is the vice president and legal director of Americans United for Life)

— In 1994 South Carolina several women testified that they saw bloody unwashed sheets, bloody cots in recovery rooms, and dirty bathrooms. These women were testifying about different abortion clinics. Some clinic workers testified to unsafe conditions and improper disposal of fetal remains. This was during a session before the General Assembly of the South Carolina legislature.

— In Texas witnesses disclosed that, in one clinic, abortions were being performed by people who had no licenses and no medical training

— In Arizona, “a young mother bled to death from a two-inch laceration in her uterus. As she lay in what medical assistants described as a pool of blood that soaked the bedding and ran down the woman’s legs, she was heard crying for help and asking what was wrong with her. Where was her doctor? He was eating lunch in the break room, refusing requests to check her condition, and later left her bleeding and unconscious to visit his tailor. The woman died after bleeding for two to three hours. Sadly, a hospital emergency room was less than five minutes down the street”

— In Kansas, two inspectors found “discovered fetal remains stored in the same refrigerator as food; a dead rodent in the clinic hallway; overflowing, uncovered disposal bins containing medical waste; unlabeled, pre-drawn syringes with controlled substances in an unlocked refrigerator; improperly labeled and expired medicines; carpeted floor in the surgical procedure room; and visible dirt and general disarray throughout the clinic”

*****

Norma McCorvey, in her book Won by Love, describes one clinic that where she worked that was later closed:

“I started working at the A to Z clinic in January 1995, and it was a health disaster waiting to happen. If the owner had not closed it down, eventually even the government would have been forced to do it. Light fixtures hung out of the ceiling; falling plaster dusted everyone who walked by…We fought an ongoing, and losing, battle with the rat population…Every morning we found rat droppings all over the clinic. Sinks were backed up- in a reputed medical clinic no less- and blood splatters stained the walls. The “parts room” where we kept the aborted babies was particularly heinous. No one liked to be in there to do their business, much less to clean the place, and since no patients were allowed back there, it was pretty much left to ruin. If a baby didn’t make it into a bucket, that was too bad; it was left to lay there. Other babies were stacked like cordwood once every body part had been accounted for…the room smelled awful. We used Pine Sol because of its strong antiseptic smell, but within hours the cleaning mixture was overpowered by the smell of medical waste and rot= which explains why the rats were so eager to visit us every night. The floor of the clinic invited contamination. It was covered by an old, gold and brown shag rug. At least I think it was gold and brown- no one really knew for sure, since the rug had not been cleaned in a long time.”

Norma McCorvey and Gary Thomas Won by Love: Jane Roe of Roe v. Wade Speaks Out for the Unborn as She Shares her New Conviction for Life. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1997 P 6-7

*****

All of these abortion clinics were operating legally. With the exception of the Arizona clinic, where terrible conditions came to light when a woman died, all these clinics would still be operating if not for the very regulations Planned Parenthood is fighting.

Women continue to be subjected to unsafe conditions in abortion clinics. And thanks to Planned Parenthood, at least in the state of Virginia, clinics may continue to get away with substandard care.

So…why? Why do pro-choice groups like Planned Parenthood oppose clinic regulations? Well, Planned Parenthood makes millions of dollars from abortion every year. Adhering to standards would raise their costs and they would make less money! It is the women who suffer.

As abortion provider Susan Poppema said in her book Why I am an Abortion Doctor- after a tip off from anti-abortion activists, she was forced to stop illegally reusing surgical tools again and again on women:

“some of the other economic steps we’d taken had to be abandoned. We’d always, for example, saved money and passed it along by reusing so-called disposable tissue-waste plastic cannulas (the small plastic tube which is inserted into a woman’s uterus to empty it during her abortion.)”

She goes on to say:

“We can only assume that there was a tip-off from the anti-choice group. We don’t like being told what to do by anti-choice zealots.”

This if from Why I am an Abortion Doctor (New York: Prometheus Books) 1996 pgs 160-161

Personally, I would be grateful to the “anti-choice zealots” if I were a patient at one of her clinics, and I could be spared from having surgical tools put in my body that had been used on other women and not disposed of like they should have been!

Another telling quote from a pro-choice activist appears in The Abortion Controversy by Lucinda Almond (ed) Greenhaven Press, NY 2007 pgs 79-80

An article by Misty Mealey mentions how the Miami Herald ran a story in 1989 about a local abortion clinic where one woman died and another was injured. Abortion advocates admitted that they knew of the poor conditions in the clinic but stayed silent for political reasons.

Mealey cites one pro-choice activist’s public statement:

“In my gut, I am completely aghast at what goes on at that place. But I staunchly oppose anything that would correct this situation in law.”

It is sad that the pro-choice movement has shown itself willing to sacrifice women’s lives in order to avoid any possible regulation of abortion on demand.

This article, which discusses only a handful of incidents in a year when abortion clinics were inspected, only scratches the surface. For more examples, see information abortionists who have run afoul of the law here And women who have died of legal abortions here.

 

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Abortionists in California: Why They Stopped

Abortion doctors leave their practices for a variety of reasons. Some have a change of heart. Sometimes the work itself takes a toll.

But sometimes they stop performing abortions because they have to. A disturbingly large number of abortionists have run afoul of medical boards and many have had their licenses revoked. A few have even been charged with murder or manslaughter for the deaths of women in their care.
In fact, Community Access to Reproductive Services (CARES) has been actively investigating the harassment and discrimination of abortion doctors by the Medical Board of California (MBC). CARES found in a recent study that nearly 90% of doctors of freestanding abortion clinics are on probation with the Medical Board.
Here are the reasons abortion doctors left practice in California over the past few years:
Lawson Akpulonu: Bench warrant for rape.
Haifa Azawi: Unknown.
Kim Beauchamp: Revoked for violating probation.
Leon Belous: Retired.
Bruce Bob: Converted, now refuses to do abortions.
Kurt Bochner: Retired.
Nicholas Braemer: License revoked for negligence against women.
Albert Brown: Suicide.
Mahlon Cannon: License revoked for death of female patients.
Cathy Cantrell: Unknown.
William Carey: Unknown.
Irving Cushner Deceased.
Mohamed Dia: License revoked for negligence against women.
Gerard Droege: Unknown.
John Dupont: Retired.
Karl Evelyn: No longer does abortions.
Suresh Gandotra: Bench warrant for arrest in death of woman.
Gordon Goei: License revoked for violating probation.
Paul Goldstein: No longer does abortions.
Virgil Graham: No longer does abortions.
Saihb Halil: License revoked for negligence against women.
Alicia Ruiz Hanna: In prison for murder of woman.
Elaine Hanson: No longer does abortions.
Thomas Kelly: No longer does abortions.
Philip R. King: Surrendered license.
William Kroutil: Retired.
Young Ho Kwon Revoked for violation of probation.
Arthur LaRose: Deceased.
Kirsten Lee: No longer does abortions.
John Lischke: No longer does abortions.
Anna Lopez: Unknown.
Edward Lishman: Unable to locate.
Ahmad Mehran: Unable to locate.
Ben Major: Deceased.
James T. McMahan: Deceased.
Phillip Milgram: Moved to Las Vegas.
A. Mitchell: Retired.
Richard Neal: Retired.
Leslie Orleans Deceased.
Arthur Pederson: Retired.
Steven Plaxe: No longer does abortions.
William Quesenberry: Retired to Arizona.
Michael Rich: Retired.
Scott Ricke: License revoked for negligence against women.
Clyde Rights: Retired.
Carol Schmidt Unknown.
Allan Silver: No longer does abortions.
Bruce Steir: License revoked for negligence in death of woman.
Gary Stewart: Deceased.
William Swartz: Retired.
Sean Tayebi: Just gone.
Bertha Bugarin: criminal conviction, currently in jail in LAC
Joseph R. Durante: deceased
Phillip Rand: License Revoked for Negligence
Nolan G. Jones: License Revoked
Ripton Wade: Deceased.

Over 30% of the abortionists in this list who left practice did so because their licenses were revoked or they were arrested. Some abortionists were impossible to locate or left for unknown reasons. Out of the abortionists who left for known reasons, just short of half stopped practice because of disciplinary action taken against them.

Note: Since I posted this, a reader made me aware of some other abortionists in California who are no longer providing abortion.

Bertha Bugarin-criminal conviction, currently in jail in LAC
Joseph R. Durante,.-deceased
Phillip Rand, -License Revoked for Negligence
Nolan G. Jones-License Revoked

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Abortionists Are Not Held Accountable for Mistakes

Abortion is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures in the United States–yet it is the least regulated. It is the only elective surgical procedure that I know of in which the doctor performing the procedure is not responsible for follow-up care, nor does he or she take an active role in dealing with the complications.

Not only this, but the very nature of abortion clinics, which practice in isolation from the rest of the medical community, keeps the abortion provider free from accountability for these complications.

Those who support abortion on demand will claim that the reported complication rate for abortions is low. They may be right. Not necessarily because there are few complications, but because the complications are underreported. They are underreported because there is no accurate process in place today to quantify the harmful repercussions of abortion. The abortion industry has successfully kept abortion and abortionists free from the type of review, regulation, and accountability that is an integral part of the rest of the medical profession. Let me give you some real life examples.

I recently took care of a woman who almost died because she’d had an abortion. A few days before I saw her, she’d had an abortion because of a positive pregnancy test. Now, after an abortion, the clinic will examine the remains which have been scraped from the uterus to take inventory of fetal parts in order to ensure that the entire pregnancy was totally eliminated. This clinic noted that there were no fetal parts, which meant that the pregnancy had not been in the uterus.

This situation is known as an ectopic pregnancy, where the pregnancy is not in the womb, but in the fallopian tube. An ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition; the ectopic must be removed or it will grow to a size that will rupture the fallopian tube and result in massive internal bleeding that can kill the mother.

In any legitimate medical facility, a woman with an ectopic pregnancy would have an immediate ultrasound to assess the ectopic, be admitted to the hospital, and have surgery before it could rupture and potentially take her life. In this abortion facility, the woman was sent home and told to call her doctor. Unfortunately, time was not on her side — before she ever had the chance, her ectopic pregnancy ruptured, she was rushed to the ER by ambulance, and taken immediately to the operating room.

Had this quality of care been provided by any other medical provider–family physician, obstetrician, or emergency physician–it would be considered grossly negligent. By an abortion provider, it does not even cause a stir. In fact it goes unnoted and unreported.

A few years ago, a young woman about twenty years old came to the ER because she was feeling very sick. She’d become increasingly ill ever since the abortion she’d had about a week earlier. I had her admitted to the hospital from the ER with a severe pneumonia. The following days revealed that the pneumonia was just a part of the problem–she had overwhelming sepsis, which is infection throughout her entire body which had, at its source, the abortion.

This woman died. The admitting physician never reported the incident as abortion-related, nor did she inform the abortion provider of the results of his “care.” He was still practicing, without the slightest idea that his intervention had led to his patient’s death.

The medical diagnosis reads “severe pain”–the real cause is abortion. The record reads “vaginal bleeding”–the real cause is abortion. The operative note says “ruptured ectopic pregnancy and internal hemorrhage”–the real cause is abortion. The autopsy states “cause of death–overwhelming sepsis”–the real cause is abortion.

There is no other practice of medicine where people can suffer and die from complications of your intervention without your being in some way professionally accountable, involved in their care, and at the very least, made aware of it–except abortion.

Abortion is a horrible abuse of the practice of medicine, ending one and a half million lives every year, yet our nation has made it legal. It is an invasive medical procedure, which in my own singular experience as ONE DOCTOR, has led to the death of one woman and the near death of another, yet its practitioners are not held to the same standards of care as the rest of the medical community.

Abortion is bad medicine. It is bad because it pushes sloppy medical care upon women who have been led to believe that their only choice is to abort their babies. It will always be bad medicine because it takes away an innocent human life. Our nation, our community, our mothers, sisters, daughters deserve better.

Dr. Lenora W. Berning, M.D. is a physician with Lancaster Emergency Associates LTD., at Lancaster General Hospital in Pennsylvania. This article is excerpted from a press statement made by Dr. Berning. Reprinted with permission.

Originally published in The Post-Abortion Review, 8(2), April-June 2000. Copyright 2000, Elliot Institute. (Used with permission)

Elliot Institute, PO Box 7348, Springfield, IL 62791-73480.afterabortion.org

Additional material is posted at www.afterabortion.org

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Abortion and Childbirth: the Risks

Abortion advocates, relying on inaccurate maternal death data in the United States, routinely claim that a woman’s risk of dying from childbirth is six, ten, or even twelve times higher than the risk of death from abortion.

In contrast, abortion critics have long contended that the statistics relied upon for maternal mortality calculations have been distorted and that the broader claim that “abortion is many times safer than childbirth” completely ignores high rates of other physical and psychological complications associated with abortion. Now a recent, unimpeachable study of pregnancy-associated deaths in Finland has shown that the risk of dying within a year after an abortion is several times higher than the risk of dying after miscarriage or childbirth.(1)

This well-designed record-based study is from STAKES, the statistical analysis unit of Finland’s National Research and Development Center for Welfare and Health. In an effort to evaluate the accuracy of maternal death reports, STAKES researchers pulled the death certificate records for all the women of reproductive age (15-49) who died between 1987 and 1994–a total of 9,192 women. They then culled through the national health care data base to identify any pregnancy-related events for each of these women in the 12 months prior to their deaths.

Since Finland has socialized medical care, these records are very accurate and complete. In this fashion, the STAKES researchers identified 281 women who had died within a year of their last pregnancy. The unadjusted mortality rate per 100,000 cases was 27 for women who had given birth, 48 for women who had miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies, and 101 for women who had abortions

The researchers then calculated the age-adjusted odds ratio of death, using the death rate of women who had not been pregnant as the standard equal to one. Table 1 shows that the age-adjusted odds ratio of women dying in the year they give birth as being half that of women who are not pregnant, whereas women who have abortions are 76 percent more likely to die in the year following abortion compared to non-pregnant women. Compared to women who carry to term, women who abort are 3.5 times more likely to die within a year.

Such figures are always subject to statistical variation from year to year, country to country, study to study. For this reason, the researchers also reported what is known as “95 percent confidence intervals.” This means that the available data indicates that 95 percent of all similar studies would report a finding within a specified range around the actual reported figure.

For example, the .50 odds ratio for childbirth has a confidence interval of .32 to .78. In other words, it is probable that 95 percent of the time, the odds ratio of death following childbirth will be found to be between 32 percent and 78 percent of the non-pregnant woman rate. The 95 percent confidence interval for the odds ratio of death following abortion was reported to be 1.27 to 2.42 of the annual rate for non-pregnant women.

STAKES had previously reported that the risk of death from suicide within the year of an abortion was more than seven times higher than the risk of suicide within a year of childbirth.(2) Two of these suicides were also connected with infanticide. Examples of post-abortion suicide/infanticide attempts have also been documented in the United States.(3)

The same finding was reported in STAKES’ more recent study. Among the 281 women who died within a year of their last pregnancy, 77 (27 percent) had committed suicide. Figure 2 shows the age-adjusted odds ratio for suicide for the three pregnancy groups compared to the “no pregnancy” control group.

Notably, the risk of suicide following a birth was about half that of the general population of women. This finding is consistent with previous studies that have shown that an undisturbed pregnancy actually reduces the risk of suicide.(4)

Abortion, on the other hand, is clearly linked to a dramatic increase in suicide risk. This statistical finding is corroborated by interview-based studies which have consistently shown extraordinarily high levels of suicidal ideation (30-55 percent) and reports of suicide attempts (7-30 percent) among women who have had an abortion.(5) In many of these studies, the women interviewed have explicitly described the abortion as the cause of their suicidal impulses.

The original publication of the STAKES suicide data prompted researchers at the South Glamorgan (population 408,000) Health Authority in Great Britain to examine their own data on admissions for suicide attempts both before and after pregnancy events. They found that among those who aborted, there was a shift from a roughly “normal” suicide attempt rate before the abortion to a significantly higher suicide attempt rate after the abortion. After their pregnancies, there were 8.1 suicide attempts per thousand women among those who had abortions, compared to only 1.9 suicide attempts among those who gave birth. The higher rate of suicide attempts subsequent to abortion was particularly evident among women under 30 years of age.

As in the STAKES sample, birth was associated with a significantly lower risk of suicide attempts. The South Glamorgan researchers concluded that their data did not support the view that suicide after an abortion was predicated on prior poor mental health, at least as measured by prior suicide attempts. Instead, “the increased risk of suicide after an induced abortion may therefore be a consequence of the procedure itself.”(6)

Interpretation of these statistical studies is aided by numerous publications describing individual cases of completed suicide following abortion.(7) In many cases, the attempted or completed suicides have been intentionally or subconsciously timed to coincide with the anniversary date of the abortion or the expected due date of the aborted child.(8) Suicide attempts among male partners following abortion have also been reported.(9)

Teens are generally at higher risk for both suicide and abortion. In a survey of teenaged girls, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that the rate of attempted suicide in the six months prior to the study increased ten fold–from 0.4 percent for girls who had not aborted during that time period to 4 percent for teens who had aborted in the previous six months.(10) Other studies also suggest that the risk of suicide after an abortion may be higher for women with a prior history of psychological disturbances or suicidal tendencies.(11)

It is also worth noting the suicide rate among women in China is the highest in the world. Indeed, 56 percent of all female suicides occur in China, mostly among young rural women.(12) It is also the only country where more women die from suicide than men. For women under 45, the suicide rate is twice as high as that of Chinese men. Government officials are reported to be at a loss for an explanation.
Traditionally, Chinese families placed a high value on large families, especially in rural communities. But after the death of Mao Tse-Tung, who also valued large families, China instituted its brutal one child policy. This population control effort, encouraged by governments and family planning organizations from the West, has required the widespread use of abortion–including forced abortion–and infanticide, especially of female babies. Given the known link between abortion and suicide, can there be any doubt that maternally-oriented Chinese women who are coerced by their families and communities to participate in these atrocities are more likely to commit suicide?

Deaths from Risk-Taking Behavior

In this most recent study from Finland, the STAKES researchers also reported that the risk of death from accidents was over four times higher for women who had aborted in the year prior to their deaths than for women who had carried to term. Of the 281 women who died within a year of their last pregnancy, 57 (20 percent) died from injuries attributed to accidents

In a study of government-funded medical programs in Canada, researchers found that women who had undergone an abortion in the previous year were treated for mental disorders 41 percent more often than postpartum women, and 25 percent more often for injuries or conditions resulting from violence.(13)

Similarly, a study of Medicaid payments in Virginia found that women who had state-funded abortions had 62 percent more subsequent mental health claims (resulting in 43 percent higher costs) and 12 percent more claims for treatments related to accidents (resulting in 52 percent higher costs) compared to a case matched sample of women covered by Medicaid who had not had a state-funded abortion.(14)

It is quite likely that some of these deaths which were classified as accidental may have in fact been suicides. Reports of post-abortive women deliberately crashing their automobiles, often in a drunken state, in an attempt to kill themselves have been reported by both post-abortion counselors and in the published literature.(15)

It is also likely that many of these deaths are simply related to heightened risk-taking behavior among post-abortive women. This may occur simply because some women care less whether they live or die after an abortion. Other women may seek to “self-medicate” a sense of depression with the adrenalin rush that often comes with taking risks. In addition, heavier drinking and substance abuse are well-documented aftereffects of abortion, both of which increase a person’s risk of fatal accidents.(16)

The STAKES study of pregnancy-associated deaths is beyond reproach. It is a record-based study in a country with centralized medical records. While a small number of women who died during the period investigated may have had births or abortions outside of Finland which would not have been identified in the records, there is no reason to believe these few cases would have altered these dramatic findings.

Clearly, the odds of a woman dying within a year of having an abortion are significantly higher than for women who carry to term or have a natural miscarriage. This holds true both for deaths from natural causes and deaths from suicide, accidents, or homicide. In addition, the study underscores the difficulty in reliably defining and identifying maternal deaths. Only 22 percent of the death certificates examined had any mention of the woman’s recent pregnancy.

Unfortunately, there is often no clear way of determining when there is any causal connection between a death and a previous pregnancy, birth, miscarriage, or abortion. According to the lead author of the STAKES study, Mika Gissler, in maternal health reports throughout the world, “[t]here is no consensus concerning which cases should be included as maternal deaths. Problematic are, for example, some cancers, stroke, asthma, liver cirrhosis, pneumonia with influenza, anorexia nervosa, and many violent deaths, such as suicide, homicide, and accidents.”(21)

By stepping back from a predefined notion of what constitutes a pregnancy-related death, the STAKES team has shown that deaths among women following a pregnancy cannot easily be tracked when a study is based purely on short-term post-operative recovery. This is particularly true following an abortion. Maternal deaths after an abortion are seldom identified as such unless the death occurs on the operating table, if even then (see accompanying article on page 5). By examining all death certificates and all pregnancy events in the prior year, the STAKES team avoided the basic problem of pre-defining what deaths will be included or excluded in maternal mortality reports.

Even this study, however, has shortcomings. The most obvious limitation is that the researchers examined only a single year of the reproductive history of women who had died during the study period. Since suicide attempts are often associated with the anniversary date of the abortion, some portion of deaths from suicide or accidents that occurred slightly over one year after a prior abortion were probably missed.

As seen in Figure 6, the distribution of suicides by month following the pregnancy event indicate an increased level of suicides at seven to ten months following an abortion. This may correspond to a negative anniversary reaction related to the expected due date of the aborted child. A similar spike is seen among women who had miscarriages, though it peaks a couple of months earlier, perhaps because the miscarriages generally occurred further along in gestation than the abortions.

Another disadvantage of the one-year limit on the STAKES data set is that it does not reveal how long the protective effect of birth extends, or conversely, how long the odds ratio of death for those who abort remains elevated. A study spanning a longer period of time would be needed to identify these longer term effects.

Finally, the STAKES study does not shed any light on whether or not women who died from suicide or risk-taking behavior after an abortion were already self-destructive before their abortions. It is probable that many were. Women with a propensity for risk-taking would be more likely to become pregnant and perhaps more likely to choose abortion. In such cases, while abortion may not be the underlying cause of their problems, it probably contributed to their psychological deterioration and was a contributing cause of their death.

On the other hand, it is also clear from other studies that many women who were not previously self-destructive become so as a direct result of their traumatic abortion experience. Whether this latter group represents a major or minor portion of those who died in the STAKES sample is unknown.

Additional insights could be gained by looking back over several more years of the women’s medical records. It is likely that prior suicide attempts, a high incidence of treatment for accidents, prior psychological treatments, and other prior pregnancy losses would all be associated with an increased risk of subsequent death by suicide, homicide, or accident.

Abortion advocates will naturally argue that abortion did not “cause” any of these deaths, but rather that these women were simply self-destructive or ill beforehand and would have died anyway. This is a flimsy argument, since clearly this same data shows that giving birth has a protective effect. Even women who committed suicide after giving birth waited until after their children were born to take their own lives.

It is quite probable that the best way to help a self-destructive woman to change her life, and value her own life, is to encourage her to cherish the life of her unborn child. Conversely, it is clear that aiding and encouraging a self-destructive woman to undergo an abortion is likely to aggravate her self-destructive tendencies.

These findings underscore the importance of holding abortion clinics liable for screening women who are seeking an abortion for a history of suicide, self-destructive behavior, and psychological instability. The failure to screen for these risk factors is clearly gross negligence. In addition, when abortion clinic counselors falsely reassure women that abortion is safer than childbirth, they should be held accountable for false and deceptive business practices.

________________________________________

Originally printed in The Post-Abortion Review, 8(2), April-June 2000. Copyright 2000, Elliot Institute.

Notes

1. Gissler, M., et. al., “Pregnancy-associated deaths in Finland 1987-1994 — definition problems and benefits of record linkage,” Acta Obsetricia et Gynecolgica Scandinavica 76:651-657 (1997).
2. Mika Gissler, Elina Hemminki, Jouko Lonnqvist, “Suicides after pregnancy in Finland: 1987-94: register linkage study” British Medical Journal 313:1431-4, 1996.
3. McFadden, A., “The Link Between Abortion and Child Abuse,” Family Resources Center News (January 1998) 20.
4. S. J. Drower, & E. S. Nash, “Therapeutic Abortion on Psychiatric Grounds,” South African Medical Journal 54:604-608, Oct. 7, 1978; B. Jansson, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia 41:87, 1965.
5. David Reardon, “Psychological Reactions Reported After Abortion,” The Post-Abortion Review, 2(3):4-8, Fall 1994; Anne C. Speckhard, The Psychological Aspects of Stress Following Abortion (Kansas City: Sheed & Ward, 1987); Vincent Rue, “Traumagenic Aspects of Elective Abortion: Preliminary Findings from an International Study” Healing Visions Conference, June 22, 1996
6. Christopher L. Morgan, et. al., “Mental health may deteriorate as a direct effect of induced abortion,” letters section, BMJ 314:902, 22 March, 1997.
7. E. Joanne Angelo, Psychiatric Sequelae of Abortion: The Many Faces of Post-Abortion Grief,” Linacre Quarterly 59:69-80, May 1992; David Grimes, “Second-Trimester Abortions in the United States, Family Planning Perspectives 16(6):260; Myre Sim and Robert Neisser, “Post-Abortive Psychoses,” The Psychological Aspects of Abortion, ed. D. Mall and W.F. Watts, (Washington D.C.: University Publications of America, 1979).
8. Carl Tischler, “Adolescent Suicide Attempts Following Elective Abortion,” Pediatrics 68(5):670, 1981.
9. “Psychopathological Effects of Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy on the Father Called Up for Military Service,” Psychologie Medicale 14(8):1187-1189, June 1982; Angelo, op. cit.
10. B. Garfinkle, H. Hoberman, J. Parsons and J. Walker, “Stress, Depression and Suicide: A Study of Adolescents in Minnesota” (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Extension Service, 1986)
11. Esther R. Greenglass, “Therapeutic Abortion and Psychiatric Disturbance in Canadian Women,” Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 21(7):453-460, 1976; Helen Houston & Lionel Jacobson, “Overdose and Termination of Pregnancy: An Important Association?” British Journal of General Practice, 46:737-738, 1996.
12. Elizabeth Rosenthal, “Women’s Suicides Reveal China’s Bitter Roots: Nation Starts to Confront World’s Highest Rate,” The New York Times, Sunday January 24, 1999, p. 1, 8.
13. R.F. Badgley, D.F. Caron, M.G. Powell, Report of the Committee on the Abortion Law, Minister of Supply and Services, Ottawa, 1977:313-319.
14. Jeff Nelson,”Data Request from Delegate Marshall” Interagency Memorandum, Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services, Mar. 21, 1997.
15. Carl Tischler, “Adolescent Suicide Attempts Following Elective Abortion,” Pediatrics 68(5):670, 1981; E. Joanne Angelo, Psychiatric Sequelae of Abortion: The Many Faces of Post-Abortion Grief,” Linacre Quarterly 59:69-80, May 1992.
16. D.C. Reardon and P.G. Ney, “Abortion and Subsequent Substance Abuse” Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 26(1):61-75.
17. David Reardon, “Psychological Reactions Reported After Abortion,” The Post-Abortion Review, 2(3):4-8, Fall 1994
18. Personal communication with Mika Gissler, March 8, 2000.
19. D. Berkeley, P.L. Humphreys, and D. Davidson, “Demands Made on General Practice by Women Before and After an Abortion,” J. R. Coll. Gen. Pract. 34:310-315, 1984.
20. Philip G. Ney, Tak Fung, Adele Rose Wickett and Carol Beaman-Dodd, “The Effects of Pregnancy Loss on Women’s Health,” Soc. Sci. Med. 48(9):1193-1200, 1994.
21. Gissler, et.al. (1997) 652.

 

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